


like ships in the night

by sweetmuses



Category: Super Sentai Series, 宇宙戦隊キュウレンジャー | Uchu Sentai Kyuranger
Genre: Character Study, Gen, spoilers for space 25 of a sort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 01:59:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetmuses/pseuds/sweetmuses
Summary: Kotaro, remembrance, life, and thoughts of the usual and unusual side.





	like ships in the night

**Author's Note:**

> So Space 25 really got me thinking about Kotaro and stuff, so I got this. There are a lot of holes in it, but I hope that you enjoy!

Kotaro was very much an optimistic guy. Not as optimistic as Lucky of course (but Kotaro would beg to differ), but one of the more half-full members of the 12 man team. No one really wanted a 10 year old to get involved in the business of fighting an intergalactic space shogunate (which sounds rather cheesy if you think about it), but Kotaro can deliver. Big time. Still, Kotaro had his own doubts to think about that he didn’t really want to share. 

More or less, they were really about things that he just happened to be involved with. Jiro was staying with his uncle close by, so at least he has that thought to keep other bad thoughts at bay. Stinger on the other hand was something much more troubling to him more than anything. Kotaro doesn’t always worry about Stinger, but he gets thoughts that honestly scare him to death. It’s a terrifying thing to think about your own big brother throwing away his own life, but him to actually die?

Kotaro very much wishes that he never got the thought in the first place. They already lost Champ, they didn’t need to lose another one. They were his other family to him. At least in his mind.

It was also another thing that kept him somewhat awake at night. He honestly didn’t know what they thought of each other other than teammates. It was like everyone had their own people to deal with. Champ and Stinger, Spada and Hammy, Lucky and Garu, Balance and Naga, Raptor and Shou, whatever the deal with Tsurugi is...but even that was starting to break down a little bit. Nonetheless, Kotaro was glad to see that everyone was getting along, with some mild acerbia and some punches being thrown.

Generally though, he still wondered if everyone was okay.

Everyone was very much either a little or completely messed up emotionally. All of them have issues, ranging from dead parents to evil siblings to actually getting “killed”. Truly enough, the Kyurangers were heavily dysfunctional, even if they didn’t show it all that well. Kotaro was never truly certain on how they were actually holding up. In fact, he wasn’t certain about how he was holding up.

He lost his mom, Jark Matter took over Earth, and his whole life was filled with facing death and trying to understand how his life got so messed up in the first place. Kotaro’s life was filled with so much trauma; it’s a wonder the kid managed to make it out the way he is.

But nothing in Kotaro’s life however prepared him for Champ’s destruction though.

He was screaming so much. The tears were burning and his whole heart was crashing into a million pieces. Stinger was trying to hold him back, but it was no use. Kotaro just wanted everything to be okay. Champ had to come back. He just had too.

God, it was probably the most emotion he showed in his whole lifespan up to that point.

Kotaro only knew the guy for a couple of months, but Champ was the best thing he had to an actual brother sans Stinger. The two just clicked from the start and then he had to go through this? Life isn’t fair and this was one of them.

Luckily Champ made it out alive and well. That was a miracle no one knew that they really needed and it was well worth it. While Stinger is still a emotional mess, at least he was also getting better. Even if it had to come with Tsurugi (which Kotaro didn’t mind. Lucky on the other hand…), the team was fine.

It didn’t keep him thinking about how much it hurt, but it did keep him thinking about Champ’s condition. Was he going to be okay or was it all just an act to keep them distracted? Or was his recovery a mere illusion and he really didn’t have any memories? The thought was ridiculous of course, so Kotaro never really touched the subject again.

Kotaro’s mom was a different story however. It was a subject that he actually thought about a lot when he was alone. Akemi Sakuma, died from complications after birth. A life taken too soon for this world.

If Jark Matter didn’t get in the way, maybe Kotaro’s mom would’ve lived. She would’ve been here by his side, taking care of Jiro and him. Now he was off fighting Jark Matter with only the thought of her in the back of his mind. Kotaro was never really bitter about it, but part of him slightly resented that she died so soon. He could’ve done so much more if they didn’t get in the way. 

But would’ve things changed if Jark Matter didn’t come? Would his mom actually be alive? Would he still be on Earth with his family? Would he not meet the Kyurangers at all? Would everything just change if Tsurugi actually killed Don Amarge once and for all and everything would be fine or would it just all fall apart?

It was honestly still a lot for a 10 year old to actually think about. No one really ever put him into this position and he didn’t have to take it. Kotaro just could’ve stayed on Earth, supporting the Kyurangers and helping out everyone at home instead of fighting them. But he chose this instead of the other option. He had to make his own decisions, even if they aren’t the good ones.

Letting Stinger go fight, leaving Champ, letting his mom’s spirit pass, letting Jiro stay, becoming one of them… They were all his decisions and no one else’s. That is something that he takes for granted sometimes, but he still wouldn’t have changed them one bit. Sure there were some that Kotaro does regret one time or another, but it was a way better option than not learning from them.

Sometimes you have to think, did the kid really need to be put through this? 

  
  



End file.
